Running-gear for four-wheeled vehicles.



R. PINTSGH.

RUNNING GEAR FOR FOUR WHEBLED VEHICLES.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE I'I, 1908.

Patented Apr.,6, 19 09.

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R. PINTSGH. RUNNING GEAR FOR FOUR WHEELED VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1908.

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ATTORNEY THE NORRIS PETERS cm, wzsumaroma c:

ROBERT PINTSCH, OF MENASHA, WISCONSIN.

RUNNING-GEAR FOR FOUB-WHEELED VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 6, 1909.

Application filed June 17, 1908. Serial No. 438,970.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT PINTSCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Menasha, in the county of Winnebago and State of lVisconsin,have invented a new and useful Running-Gear for Four-VVheeled Vehicles,of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to a mechanism which is connected to a part of therunning gear, either the reach or the fifth wheel when one is used, andit consists of a circular segment or an entire wheel, as the case maybe, provided with teeth upon a part.

of its forward surface, which teeth are engaged by two pawls andnormally hold the tongue of the vehicle from swinging to the right orleft, the tongue being pivotally mounted, and its rear end provided witha trip finger which disengages a spring pressed pawl from engagementwith the toothed member as the tongue is swung a limited amount to theright or left, and when so swung and the pawls disengaged, or rather oneof them, the forward wheels can be cramped around, while the tongue ispressed in that direction sufficiently hard to hold the pawl upon thatside of the toothed member out of engagement with the teeth thereof, andits object is, to relieve the team of the lateral swing of the tonguewhen traveling, and prevent the making of sore necks upon the team; themechanism being illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan showing a pair of forward wheels upon an axle, therear axle, a reach connecting the axles, hounds upon the forward axlehaving a tongue mounted upon a pivot bolt between the hounds, a toothedsegmental casting upon the forward end of the reach adapted to beconnected with the forward axle by the king bolt, and the rear end ofthe reach made round and connected with the rear hounds and axle, andtwo spring pressed pawls mounted between the forward hounds and inengagement with the forward extending arms of the pawls. Fig. 2 is afront elevation showing the forward axle, a transverse section of thehounds, the toothed segmental casting between the hounds, the sand barabove the hounds, bolster plates upon the sand bar and a bolster withone end stake above the bolster plates. Fig. 3 is a plan upon anenlarged scale of the two pawls with their springs and spring guidingrods. Fig. 4. is a plan of a pair of forward wheels and their axle, therear end of the tongue pivoted for a limited lateral swing betweenhounds, two pawls pivoted between the hound spacing plates, and thetoothed member adapted for application to a platform gear having sideand end springs by making the toothed member a part of the fifth wheel,no reach being required. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the inside of thehounds in Fig. 1, the tongue being removed and showing a side elevationof the toothed member, and an end elevation of the bolsters above thefifth wheel, the platform springs being omitted. Fig. 6 is a frontelevation of the front hounds, the toothed fifth wheel member, and abolster above said wheel. Fig. 7 is a plan of part of the forward houndswith the tongue pivotally mounted between them, their connecting barsbeing omitted, the tongue being swung to one side and thereby showingone of the pawls out of engagement with the toothed part of the mechanism.

Similar numerals and letters indicate like parts in the several views.

1 and 1 indicate front axlesin Figs. 1 and 4- respectively; 1 theirwheels; 2, rear axle in Fig. 1; 3, 3 front axle hounds; 4, rear axlehounds; 5, bars spacing the hounds apart; 6, bolts for bolting thespacing bars to the hounds; 7, 7 upper and lower circles respectively atthe rear ends of the hounds in Fig. 1; a reach having a rectangularfront end 8, and a round rear end 8, connects front and rear axles; 9,is a toothed segment having oppositely facing teeth, 9", bolted upon theforward end of the reach with bolts 9*, through the bore 10 of whichreach a king bolt 11 passes for connecting the reach and front axle.

12, is the rear end of a tongue, pivoted upon the bolt 12, between theforward ends of the hounds 3, its rear end extending to a distancetoward the axle and is narrowed up at said rear end for permitting alimited lateral swing of the tongue. At its rear end a finger 13,extends toward the axle, the finger being a metallic piece about 2x8inches and of an inch thick inserted edgewise through the tongue andsecured with rivets 13 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 7. Between. twospacing bars 5, two pawls, 1 1, are pivoted upon the pivot bolt 15, thepawls being similar in form, made rights and lofts, and provided withtooth engaging of the hounds 3 ends 16, and forward extending arms '17,the arms when the pawls are pivoted together, extending forward, oneeach side of the finger 13 of the tongue.

18, are springs, one between an arm of a pawl and the inner side of ahound. The springs may be a coiled wire spring and be mounted betweenthe inside of a hound and an arm 17 of the pawl, and a rod 19, extendedout from the inside of each hound for sustaining. the spring inposition. These springs should have sufficient rigidity and stin ness tohold the pawls in engagement ith the toothed surface until the swingingof the tongue to the right or left overcomes the tension of the springand causes the finger 13 to trip the pawl and permit the tongue tocontinue its swing without hindrance from the toothed member, until thedesired curve in the course of travel for the vel'ii'cle has beenarrived at. Upon the tongue being swung in the opposite direc tion, thepawl upon that side will be thrown out of engagement with the toothedmember, while the finger 13 will engage with the arm of the other'pawland throw the catch of that pawl out of engagement with the toothedmember, when the vehicle will be free to be turned in the oppositedirection the required amount as before. When the pawls are both in'meshwith the toothed member, unless the tongue is swung to the right or leftwith sufficient force to overcome the resiliency of the spring, thetongue will remain without the lateral swing which is occasioned by theslight unevenness of the ordinary roadway.

In. Fig. 1, the hounds 3, carry a transverse bar 20, from which theforward ends of two side springs 21, are suspended, the springs beingsecured mid-way their ends by the clips and bolts 22, upon the axle, andat their rear ends the ends of the rear spring 23 are suspended, saidrear spring being suspended mid-way its ends from the cross bar 24:, bythe clip bolts 24, the cross bar being suspended by the bolts 25 fromthe rear ends Upon said hounds the lower part of a fifth wheel circle 26is secured and above that, pivoted to revolve upon the bolt 27, is theupper half of it, 28, having teeth 29 around a part of its circumferencewhich are engaged by the pawls 141 they being like the pawls 14L,excepting that their teeth engaging ends let, are curved upward so as toreach up to and engage the teeth of the upper half of the fifth wheel.Above this fifth wheel, bolsters 30 are mounted and are secured inposition with bolts 31. Variations in the form and arrangement of thegearing may require a different form and arrangement of the operatingmechanism between the tongue and toothed member, which I consider aswithin the scope of my invention.

front axle, without its affecting the perfect working of the pawls withthe toothed segment. Collars 36, are mounted upon said round part of thereach and are secured thereto with pins 37, for drawing forward orbacking the rear axle in a :cordance with v the movements of the forwardaxle.

Other means of connecting up the reach so as to permit the rear axle toassume aposition out of the plane of the forward axle will occur to themechanic for avoiding a disarrangement in the working of the toothedmember and pawls while the vehicle is being drawn over slightobstructions and uneven ground.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1.s,--

1. The combination with a four wheeled vehicle, of a forward axle, apair of hounds secured upon said axle, a tongue pivotally mountedbetween the forward ends of the hounds and fitted for a limitedhorizontal swing of the tongue upon its pivot bolt, a finger extendingrearward from the rear end of the tongue, mechanism for connectingtherear to the forward axle by means of a king or pivot bolt, metallicmember having a circular forward end provided with ratchet teeth, thepawl engaging faces of each half of which are arranged facing each.other,

pivoted upon said axle by said king or pivot bolt for connecting withthe rear axle, and its toothed part extending forward of said forwardaxle, two pawls pivoted between the hounds upon their connecting platesor bars, one for each direction in which said ratchet teeth face, an armextending from each pawl toward the tongue, one arm on each side of theaforesaid rearward extending tongue finger, a spring arrangedbetween'the hounds and each forward extending pawl arm and normallyholding the pawls in engagement with the ratchet teeth, said parts beingarranged and operating to prevent the side swinging of the tongue whenthe vehicle is traveling forward over slight obstacles, ex-

cepting a limited amount between the hounds.

The combination with a four wheeled vehicle, of a forward axle, a pairof hounds secured upon said axle, a tongue pivotally mounted between theforward ends of the bounds and fitted for a limited horizontal swing ofthe tongue upon its pivot bolt, a

finger extending rearwardly from the rear end of the tongue, a reach forconnecting the rear to the forward axle, its forward end being connectedto the forward axle by means of a king, or pivot bolt and its rear endconnected with the rear axle in such a manner as to permit it to assumea position in a different plane from the plane of the forward axle, ametallic member having a circular forward end provided with ratchetteeth, the pawl engaging faces of each half of which are arranged facingeach other, said member being connected with said reach and extendingforward of the forward axle, two pawls pivoted between the hounds upontheir connecting plates or bars, one for each direction in which saidratchet teeth face, an arm extending from each pawl toward the tongue,one arm each side of the aforesaid rearward extending tongue finger, aspring arranged between the hounds, one for each pawl and in engagementwith its forward extending arm, said springs normally holding the pawlsin engagement with the ratchet teeth, said parts being arranged andoperating to prevent the side swinging of the tongue when the vehicle istraveling forward over slight obstructions, excepting a limited amountbetween the hounds.

ROBERT PINTSCH. Witnesses CARL K001i, EDMUND LIEBHAUSER.

